Ilham Aliyev: Baku and Yerevan's positions in achieving peace quite close

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev provided his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier with detailed information regarding the Azerbaijan-Armenia peace process.

The Azerbaijani head of state recalled that Azerbaijan's victory has paved the way for peace talks. Today, the positions of Azerbaijan and Armenia on achieving peace have come quite close to each other, he noted.

"During our discussion today, I provided Mr. President with comprehensive information about the Azerbaijan-Armenia peace process. I stated that following the end of the Second Karabakh War, Azerbaijan, and myself personally, initiated the start of peace negotiations. At that time, neither Armenia nor the OSCE Minsk Group, which was still active, put forward such a proposal. This proposal came from the Azerbaijani side. This in itself demonstrates how interested we are in concluding a peace agreement," Ilham Aliyev said.

To date, the text of the peace treaty consisting of 17 paragraphs has been fully agreed upon. Azerbaijan is not putting forward any additional conditions here, Ilham Aliyev said.

"Our conditions are known to Armenia; they are not new. We have been putting forward these conditions for a long time. However, we have not received any serious response from Armenia to date," Ilham Aliyev said.

He explained that first, the OSCE Minsk Group must be dissolved, the second issue concerns the Armenian constitution. There is a reference to the Armenian act of independence in the Armenian constitution, which is an integral part of that constitution. It contains a provision about the unification of Azerbaijan's legal and historical territory with Armenia, and this is considered an open territorial claim against Baku. The Azerbaijani leader stressed that the removal of this clause from the Armenian constitution is Azerbaijan's legitimate demand.

"Once these two conditions are met, there will be no obstacles to signing the peace treaty. As they say, the ball is in Armenia's court. If Armenia genuinely wants to sign a peace treaty, it must accept these two legitimate conditions of Azerbaijan," Ilham Aliyev said.